Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Walt and I hiked up Mount Washington this past weekend and what a hike it was. We slept in the clouds and walked on the mountaintops. The first day we did an easy six miles and slept at the Mizpah Hut at 3,800 feet. I found out Mizpah means pillar in the clouds, a watch tower, a look out, a fitting name. The second day we hiked 11 miles up and down the Presidential range. We scaled the summits of Mount Jackson, Mount Pierce, Mount Eisenhower, Mount Franklin, Mount Monroe and Mount Washington. By the time we headed down I was Mount Exhaustion. The scenery on top was spectacular in every direction.

The first photograph is the trail we took. Crawford's Path, the oldest mountain trail in the United States, snakes along the mountaintops. Although we didn't see much in the way of wildlife, we did see this gray jay begging for food on Mount Jackson (it even ate out of people's hands!). Mount Washington (the high mountain in the photo) looks incredibly far away.

Tomorrow I'm emailing the full 10 pages to my writing buddies for review. We'll meet a week from tomorrow. Sometime after the 22nd, a second scientist will review the material. Then it will finally be ready for mailing. Hallelujah!